The invention relates to the field of firearms, and more particularly to an accessory adaptor for attaching an accessory to the muzzle of a handgun or a rifle, in a quick and easy manner.
The problems associated with the firing of handguns or rifles, such as muzzle jump or felt recoil which affects shooting accuracy, is well known in the handgun art. The recoil is caused when a handgun or rifle is fired, and the reaction force creates a force moment couple tending to twist or rotate the gun causing the muzzle to move upwardly. This occurrence is described in detail in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,020,416 and 4,429,614. To alleviate this problem, numerous types of accessories have been proposed. Other types of accessories are also well known, such as sound suppressors, flare attachments, grenade launchers, muzzle breaks, etc. The problem of attaching these accessories in a quick and easy manner to the muzzle of the handgun or the rifle so that the accessory bore and muzzle bore are reliably secured and aligned has been a problem. The prior art has proposed numerous means for connecting the accessory to the muzzle of a firearm. There have been generally permanent means for connecting the accessory and muzzle, such as brazing or welding, however these techniques are prone to fracturing upon repeated explosive reactions, and have presented risk of injury to the user and bystanders. Screws and the like are prone to sheer because of the stress incurred after repeated use. Also the necessity to insert screws into the gun barrel itself is undesirable because it is time consuming and can also lead to fracture. It has also been proposed to create a threaded portion within the gun barrel cooperating with a corresponding threaded portion on the accessory. However, handguns or rifles do not typically have threaded portions on the barrels, and the barrel must first be modified to create the threaded portion. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,726,280 and 5,136,923 disclose accessory devices having threaded portions cooperating with a threaded portion of a gun barrel. Bayonet type connections have also been provided, such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,559,302; and collet type of accessory devices have also been utilized such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,510,843. However, these devices have also not been entirely satisfactory for coupling accessories to handgun or rifle muzzles and, particularly, for allowing attachment of a variety of accessories. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,433,133 and 5,596,161 disclose coupling members of the quick detach type for attaching an accessory to the front end of a gun barrel. However, these coupling devices require that the muzzle of the gun barrel be machined to provide a special connection to the accessory device.
Thus, it can be seen that the provision of a device or means to attach an accessory to the gun barrel of a handgun or firearm which does not require modification of the handgun, and which allows for attachment of different accessories, is a problem which has not been satisfactorily solved in the prior art.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an adaptor for attaching an accessory to the muzzle of a gun barrel, which does not require modification of the gun barrel, and which is easily and quickly attached.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an adaptor for attaching one of several accessories to the muzzle of a gun barrel without modification of the gun barrel.
Another object of the invention is to provide an adaptor for attaching an accessory to the muzzle of a gun barrel which reliably aligns the accessory bore and the gun barrel bore for accurate and safe firing wherein the adaptor quickly and easily attaches the accessory to the gun barrel.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide an adaptor for attaching an accessory to the muzzle of a gun barrel in a matter of a few seconds, facilitating attachment, removal, interchange of accessories generally instantaneously.
The above objectives are accomplished according to the present invention by providing an accessory adaptor for attaching a threaded accessory to the muzzle of a gun barrel where the gun barrel has a protrusion near the muzzle. The accessory adaptor includes an elongated adapter body having a muzzle end and a barrel receiving end. A full sleeve is formed at the muzzle end of the adaptor body having internal adaptor threads. A partial sleeve is integral with the full sleeve having an interior cylindrical surface for surrounding a portion of the gun barrel. A barrel catch is carried by the receiving end of the adaptor body for engaging the protrusion of the gun barrel when threads of the accessory are threaded into the internal threads of the full sleeve. The adaptor firmly attaches the accessory in alignment to the gun barrel when the accessory threads are tightened into the adaptor threads drawing the barrel catch tightly against the protrusion. Preferably, the interior cylindrical surface is formed between the full sleeve and the receiving end of the adaptor body, and has a curvature corresponding to the curvature of the gun barrel. In one embodiment, the barrel catch includes a raised arcuate ledge raised above the interior cylindrical surface which engages the protrusion of the gun barrel. For example, the protrusion of the gun barrel may include a cylindrical protrusion elevated from the surface of the gun barrel such a band mounting the front sight, and the arcuate ledge engages behind the cylindrical protrusion.
In an advantageous aspect of the invention, the partial sleeve has a top opening formed between the full sleeve and the barrel receiving end of the adaptor body, and the barrel catch projects across a rear portion of the top opening for engaging behind the barrel protrusion when attached. The accessory includes an accessory face abutting the gun muzzle. In one embodiment, the accessory face includes an annular recess and the gun muzzle protrudes into said recess when said accessory is tightly threaded into said full sleeve of the adaptor body. In another embodiment, the gun muzzle includes a muzzle crown into which the accessory face protrudes when said accessory is tightly threaded into the full sleeve of the adaptor body. In both cases, the gun barrel muzzle terminates at the full sleeve of the adaptor so that a generally one-piece, smooth extension is provided in construction and appearance.